


The Elevator

by TheVoidless



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Flirting, M/M, Office AU, awkward first encounter, made this a year ago and found it in my google drive lol, mature rating for the swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24931213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVoidless/pseuds/TheVoidless
Summary: Tord loves to take the elevator at his office building, where he runs into the new salesman, Tom. His appearance first takes Tord off guard, but with every passing they have, his interest increases.
Relationships: Tom/Tord (Eddsworld)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 61





	The Elevator

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

Tord watched the numbers of the elevator decline to his floor with anticipation. He could already smell the metallic, new scent of the machine as he stood outside of it, waiting. It was a sensation he couldn’t explain- one he loved without a thought, like gasoline or smoke. Tord supposed he liked dangerous things.

A quick glance around the area told Tord no one else was there for the ride. He smiled contently, figuring he could go down and up again before his break ended. The Norwegian didn’t normally go out of his way for pleasurable things, but this was his one exception. Going on the elevator was a miniature break from reality, and away from people. Perhaps it was the soothing smell that sharpened his senses, that familiar lurch of gravity, or the feeling of weight being gently tossed around that sealed his love for it. Probably all of the above. Everything about it was simply nice.

When the elevator doors finally opened up with a resounding _ding_ , two people filed out, and Tord made his way into the comfortably sized space. He hit a floor a bit higher than the one he worked on. Best get the most out of his time.

As the doors were sliding to a close, a tanned hand shot through the gap at the last second, and it opened back up.

“Fuck, sorry,” the man said. Tord nearly had to grab for the handrails that sat on the walls as the other man approached. He had black pits for eyes. The look of them sent a chill through Tord, an unexplainable feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.

He also noticed the man had tousled, unkempt light brown hair that flew up and away in different directions. His dark blue, buttoned shirt wasn’t even put on correctly, with a flap of the end of it sticking out from the rim of his black slacks. Once Tord could bring himself to look at the other’s face, there were telling dark bags under his eyes. He quickly focused on the opposite wall, realizing that if the other man looked his way, Tord wouldn’t even be able to tell. Did he have pupils?

The man beside Tord got comfortably situated in the small compartment, leaving enough space between them, and reached out to press his floor number. He quickly paused once he noticed Tord had already pressed it, and turned to the Norwegian, “We’re on the same floor.” He said it a bit more indifferently than Tord thought was normal to be greeting a coworker. “What do you do?”

Tord squinted and pretended to see the selected floor number for the first time, “Oh! Haha,” he laughed more nervously than he wanted. “It seems I pressed the wrong number on accident.” He pushed in the button for his correct floor, “I actually work as a salesman.” 

He nearly finished the conversation there, grouchy at his ruined personal elevator time. It took him a moment to think it was only nice to ask, “You?”

The man in blue raised an eyebrow, “I’m a salesman too. Just started. Maybe I’m the one with the wrong floor.”

Tord shrugged. The elevator was soon to arrive, and he didn’t want to waste time getting involved. “I’d ask your manager,” he managed to say politely.

He was answered with a small hum, then silence. The clicking of the elevator filled the room, and Tord nearly couldn’t wait to get out.

The machine came to an upward stop. “Good luck,” Tord called as he went back to his desk. The urge to go on the elevator again had dissolved.

The next day, Tord had higher hopes. He took his break at a slightly later time than yesterday, popping out a cigarette from his case in preparation as he stepped onto the empty elevator. He clicked the first floor, and sighed to himself, taking in the aroma. He even closed his eyes, keeping track of each floor with the blaring _dings_ he was accustomed to. 

As he came out of the elevator, he found himself tumbling into another body. His cigarette flew from one hand, and he held up his other hand to stabilize himself before he fell down. 

“Ah, sorry,” he began apologizing. Thoughts scrambled in his head. What if it was a higher-up? 

Once he stepped back and looked up, he almost wanted to fall down completely. It was that same man again from the day before, with those sunken, dark pits for eyes.

“Um,” Tord barely made out before the man before him gave him an odd look and quickly got onto the elevator. He realized he had held out a hand against his chest for balance, and red flooded onto his face. 

“You dropped your smoke,” the man called out to him as the doors closed in his face.

He recovered quickly. Tord picked up his cigarette and rushed outside. He was apt to fling out his lighter and started breathing in the taste of it.

The Norwegian was unsettled, to say the least. He didn’t want to feel like a complete creep, but nevertheless… that man was tight. Did he work out? Was he interested in the opposite sex? Tord swore to himself and took a bigger huff of the smoke the next time he inhaled, if just to forget the whole thing. 

The next time he bumped into the attractive- ahem- stranger, was not long after that encounter. The Norwegian was yet on another break at roughly the same time he saw the other man (not that he wanted to see him again, of course). He was on his second round of going up and down the elevator when he gave up on meeting him and pulled out his cigarettes once more.

Stepping out onto the main floor, he made sure not to walk into anyone as he slipped a cigarette into his mouth and reached for his lighter.

“Hey,” a familiar voice sent apprehensive chills down Tord’s back.

He wasted no time to remove the offending cigarette. He turned around as casually as he could manage, “Yeah?”

It was that man. This time, the other wore a slightly lighter shade of blue for his shirt, and it was appropriately tucked into his pants. He leaned against the wall by the row of elevators. Tord did his best not to stare at his eyes.

“You take the elevator a lot, don’t you?” The man didn’t seem to come across as insulting, but Tord could hear the incredulousness in his tone.

He wasn’t sure how to respond. Most of the workers here never quite noticed or bothered to confront him about his odd habit of going on the elevator often. This was a first.

“Yeah,” he started. But what to say next? “It smells… really nice.”

His face burned, but he kept his cool nevertheless. The man in blue didn’t seem to think much of it, but his expression contorted in disbelief, “The elevator?”

Tord swallowed. Did he not agree? “I suppose I like odd scents.”

“Huh,” The other man shrugged and went up to the machines themselves, pressing the button to call one down. 

Tord supposed that was the end of the conversation, and he popped his waiting cigarette into his mouth once more and turned away. What the hell was that? Was he waiting for him to come down just to ask?

The attention was certainly flattering- after all, Tord wasn’t sure the last time he’d seen anyone so handsome, and he was definitely pulling off those black eyes-

He mentally slapped himself. But what if he was interested? But no, but yes, but…

Tord really had to stop thinking about such useless things.

Approximately a week later of going on break for the elevator at the same time of day, Tord was comfortably in the machine once more. He took in a large breath to smell the aroma, and sunk his weight back against a wall. The vertical motion now headed downwards, back to the first floor after briefly visiting the very top. 

He hadn’t seen any sign of that man with black eyes since he bumped into him. Tord dimly wondered if he still worked here or just happened to have changed his schedule.

As the elevator doors slid aside, he looked up in wariness, as though just thinking about the person would suddenly summon him there. 

No one was waiting there, and Tord nearly sighed in disappointment and relief. 

He glanced past the elevator once more, retreated backwards, and then selected his own floor. 

“Shit, hold it!”

Tord’s stomach dropped as that same hand attached to that same man with those eyes came through in time to stop the doors from closing.

“Speak of the goddamn devil,” Tord exclaimed as the doors opened to reveal exactly who he expected. As they made eye contact, he said jokingly, “I wondered when you’d turn up.”

The other man snorted, thinking Tord was referring to the first time they met, “Listen, I’ve stopped an elevator more here in a week than in my entire life.”

Tord raised an eyebrow, getting a bit more used to those eyes. “Have you ever even used an elevator before you got here?”

To the Norwegian’s surprise, the man chuckled and brushed the question aside, “I’m Thomas, but I like to be called Tom.”

Tord smiled, “I’m Tord, but I’d like you to call me whenever you want to have dinner.” He held out a hand expectantly, “Phone?”

He had no idea why he suddenly did that, except that it was simply in the spur of the moment. What would he say to save himself if Tom was straight? He wanted to die on the spot with the startled look Tom gave, but not a moment too soon, he grinned and took it out, fiddling with it a bit before laying it on Tord’s palm.

His contacts app was already pulled up, and under where he would enter his first and last name, the company slot was named “handsome guy at work.”

“So you _can_ see with those eyes,” Tord laughed. “You don’t have to explain them if you don’t want to, though.”

Tom shrugged, but kept a sly smile, “I would, but I doubt you’d believe me.”

The elevator stopped their conversation by declaring it had reached its destination with a loud beep. 

“Another time?” Tord offered as he stepped out, “I’m all ears.”

The other man’s black eyes blinked at him through closing doors when he replied with a smirk, “Over dinner.”


End file.
